Two strong earthquakes shook the African Great Lakes region today, killing at least 34 people in Rwanda and six in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Hundreds of people were wounded, many with fractured limbs, after the two quakes struck close together along the western Rift Valley fault.
Houses crumbled and deep cracks spread up the walls of buildings in the centre of Bukavu in DR Congo, near the epicentre of the first quake which measured 6.0 on the Richter scale. The second quake measured 5.0 on the scale.
Ten people were killed straight away when a church collapsed in the Rusizi district of Western Province.
13 others were killed in Rusizi and Nyamesheke districts and some 250 wounded were transported to various regional hospitals.
